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Audition

Takashi Miike(1999)

110min

18 Certificate

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Review

Our Score

by Alan Jones

Containing scenes of surreal violence and excruciating torture that many will find difficult to watch, this controversial psychological horror from cult Japanese director Takashi Miike could be a warped dream fuelled by tormented memory or an agonising hallucination revolving around the fear of a new relationship. It begins like a typical romantic comedy: a lonely Tokyo widower (played by Ryo Ishibashi) is persuaded to start looking for a new wife. With a producer friend, he holds a fake audition so he can screen a group of beautiful women - ostensibly for the part of a heroine in a new movie. But when the widower picks out an ex-ballerina (Japanese model Eihi Shiina) and tentatively begins to woo her, events take a terrifying turn. Like David Cronenberg, Miike doesn't provide his audience with easy answers, emotional respite or a safe conclusion. Instead, using stunning imagery and a mounting sense of puzzled dread, he puts true horror back into the genre. If you can stomach it, this profoundly moving film will leave you dazed.

Summary

Lonely widower Aoyama turns to a film producer for help in meeting women. The two men audition actresses for a non-existent film in the hope that a suitable woman will turn up. A ballet dancer catches Aoyama's eye, and he begins courting her - but is dangerously unaware she has a terrifying sadistic side. Takashi Miike's horror, starring Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina and Jun Kunimura. In Japanese.